Fan Casts and public championing concepts in the fandom sphere is not a new concept. It has existed for as long as I can remember, but I’m sure if you look further you would find more evidence even older or at the very least an ancestor of the concept.
It makes sense though, a lot of content starts off as stories made of words or basic art. The format forces the viewer to create human allegories in their head, building the faces of their favorite characters.
How natural it is then to take that mental picture and compare those representations to faces you already know, faces like celebrities that you cherish and idolize. While there’s nothing wrong with this behavior, in modern days with the inclusion of the internet, these fan casts are no longer in a vacuum and reach a ton of people including the studio heads of the creators of the content you love.
One such recent event with negative results was dealing with the character of Cara Dune from the Disney+ show the Mandalorian. After Gina Carano was removed from the show, a lot of fans started pushing the idea of replacing the actor only, so that the character could continue to exist in the series. A loud group of Lucy Lawless fans posited that she would be the perfect replacement for the character. If you do not know who Lucy Lawless is, she is best known for her role as “Xena Warrior Princess,” or more recently “My Life Is Murder.”
Fans thought they were being helpful, supporting Lucy Lawless, and thinking they found a solution to the problems of a show they love. However, due to the political minefield caused by the reasons that Gina Carano was removed by the studio, it has made the role of Cara Dune radioactive. If they replaced Carano it would cause a further negative backlash in fans that support her, or agree with her political views.
So regardless of Disney’s preference to work with Lucy Lawless any actions with her are directly tied to this push from the star’s fans to connect her to the role of Cara Dune. Unknown to fans of Lucy Lawless though, she had already been in talks with Disney to play a different unknown role within the universe of Star Wars. An opportunity that the fan casts have now caused to be canceled.
This isn’t the only situation though, creators like Dan Harmon have specifically stated that they try to keep away from fan theories because when they hear them, it makes them have to abandon any similar stories going forward.
It reminds me of my family’s present rule. You can guess all you want of what’s inside the package, but if you get it right before opening it, then it will be returned to the store.
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